Member Profile

A native of Eastern Kentucky, Dr. Chris Combest is Lecturer of Tuba at Middle Tennessee State University where he teaches tuba, Music Theory, coaches chamber music ensembles, and performs with the faculty brass quintet. A member of the board for the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium-Tuba Competition, Combest was previously a freelance performer in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas area prior to his appointment to the MTSU faculty and has held teaching positions at Indiana University Southeast, the University of Texas-San Antonio, Southern Illinois University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan. He holds degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (D.M.A. 2009), the University of Louisville (M.M. 2005) and Eastern Kentucky University (B.A. 2001) where his primary teachers include Mark Moore, John Jones, and James Willett.

Former tubist with the Louisville Orchestra and Principal Tuba with Wintergreen Festival in Virginia, Combest has performed with the Indianapolis Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, The U.S. Army Field Band, the Dallas Wind Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, the Illinois Symphony, Ash Lawn Opera, the Tulsa Opera-Ballet and with artists including John Williams, Audra McDonald and the Canadian Brass. He appears on recordings for National Public Radio, the BBC, Disney and can also be heard on the Polyphonic and Albany music labels. An adjudicator for international solo competitions, he has served on judging panels for the Leonard Falcone Competition and the International Tuba Euphonium Conference Solo Competition and has performed at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference (2016, 2014, 2012) and the U.S. Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Washington, D.C. (2011). Combest is a Life Member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association where he is Competitions Chair and Associate Editor for the ITEA Journal.

Chris Combest is a Buffet Group USA Performing Artist and Clinician for Melton Meinl Weston instruments.